Morality is a unique feature of the life of human beings. It is deeply influenced by several cultural factors, such as history, traditions, education, religious beliefs, etc.

The intellectual analysis of this human dimension in all of its complexity is the goal of the discipline called Ethics. Ethics does not create morality or moral behavior.

The goal of ethics is much more modest: to explore the nature of moral experience, its universality and its diversity.

Ethics and morality are generally taken as synonyms, because they originally had the same meaning: the study of the disposition, character, or attitude of a specific person, group of people or culture, and ways of promoting or perfecting it.

As a field of study, psychology examines a broad range of research and applied areas. Important parts of such work are teaching and research on the behavior of nonhuman animals, which contribute to the understanding of basic principles underlying behavior and to advancing the welfare of both human and nonhuman animals. While psychologists must conduct their teaching and research in a manner consonant with relevant laws and regulations, ethical concerns further mandate that psychologists consider the costs and benefits of procedures involving animals before proceeding with these activities.

The 3Rs Principle of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement is central to the Guidelines. Since the concept of the 3Rs was first introduced by William Russell and Rex Burch in The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique in 1959, the 3Rs have been internationally accepted as the basis of the care and use of animals for scientific purposes. These are: to Replace the need for animal use by alternative means, to Reduce
the numbers of animals used to an unavoidable minimum, and to Refine any procedures necessarily used, so as to minimize the impact on animals, consistent with the achievement of a justifiable scientific purpose, and which is necessary because there is no other way of achieving that purpose. The incorporation of the 3Rs at the planning stages ensures that full consideration of the principle is exercised at every juncture of the process.